Thanks for all the info all regarding Lake Ponchartrain.

However, particularly troubling is an EPA Report that is circulating
here in Florida within the health department, which purportedly
claims that all the contaminated water spilling into the Gulf may
eventually (depending upon currents) contaminate inshore waters so
that massive fish kills could be coming. A red tide (caused by algae)
decimated the scallop population for about two years in St. Joe Bay
and only earlier this year did we hear that the population had
rebounded. Huge fish kills were even reported in Gulf waters earlier
this summer.

Other concerns are that the effluents will wash up on Gulf beaches as
far east as Apalachee Bay, possibly as far east as Cedar Key, making
it unsafe to eat any oysters or possibly even to swim in the waters!
Theories range from six months to five years.

I am hoping these preliminary reports are a 'worst case scenario.'
Unfortunately, even the worst case scenarios for Hurricane Katrina
were off by a significant margin. After spinal surgery in 2001, I am
now finally doing well enough to start taking our boat out again. But
this news has me wondering just how bad it might be.

I cannot imagine anyone still arguing the fact that the weather is
changing. Other than several brief tropical lows, which dropped lots
of rain here in the Florida Big Bend area, we have been parched since
about 1995. Yesterday afternoon, our humidity hit a record low of
just 24%. Despite September being our second wettest year (normally),
my rain gauge has been dry all month and forecasts predict no
precipitation for the next seven days. Even Hurricane Katrina did not
dampen our lawns, despite the monstrous rainfall other areas
experienced. Most of our trees, oaks and dogwoods mostly, began
dropping their leaves on late August. This is just getting worse as
far as I can see.

In any event, any additional information beyond the effects in just
Lake Ponchartrain would be appreciated. I'm sure people who were
planning trips to the Gulf next year will also benefit from any
significant real world knowledge we can tap into among our brighter
members (and you know who you are, guys....).

Thanks again,
Jim

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